Speaker 1: You're tuned into Heat Check with Trystal Quick.
Speaker 2: On this episode of the Heat Check, the trade deadline
Speaker 2: has come, the trade deadline has gone, and I am
Speaker 2: here to break down everything that I think that happened
Speaker 2: that was important, from.
Speaker 1: Kyrie and Katie getting moved at the.
Speaker 2: Deadline to the most underrated trades that have happened, and.
Speaker 1: That all happens on a pretty underwhelming deadline day.
Speaker 2: I also get into the looming buy out market just
Speaker 2: a tad talking about some news around the league, including
Speaker 2: an interesting update on Zion, of course, and another NFT
Speaker 2: lawsuit involving Chef Curry.
Speaker 1: We get into that scandal as well.
Speaker 2: Lots of popping, So do me a favorite nick and
Speaker 2: drop that generic beat. Let's talk about this trade deadline, baby.
Speaker 2: I have some thoughts first and ball let me begin
Speaker 2: by saying this, Is it just me? Or was this
Speaker 2: year's trade deadline not only the most dramatic trade deadline
Speaker 2: we've ever seen, but also the least dramatic trade deadline
Speaker 2: we've ever seen?
Speaker 1: Is it just me?
Speaker 2: Because man, it was like boom pouch and then like
Speaker 2: nothing right.
Speaker 1: It was like Kyrie kd Russell Westbrook.
Speaker 2: And then Luke Canard you know, it was like you're like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: this trade deadline is gonna be fucking lit. And then
Speaker 2: you're like, oh, Reggie Jackson okay, Oh oh my god,
Speaker 2: Matis Stibel okay. Like when James Wiseman is one of
Speaker 2: the more impactful trade deadline moves at the deadline, which
Speaker 2: ended up being scandalous. By the way, there's this craziness
Speaker 2: in that four team trade. But when you've got names
Speaker 2: like James Wiseman and Mattis Steibel and Reggie Jackson and
Speaker 2: a bunch of I would consider them to be role
Speaker 2: players getting moved after what we got was the main course.
Speaker 2: You don't give us Brussels sprouts after the steak. You
Speaker 2: don't do that because it's very disappointing. We don't get
Speaker 2: dessert and steak and lobster. And then it's like, oh yeah,
Speaker 2: also we have this sees yourself for you, like, no,
Speaker 2: that's not how that's that's what Luke Canard was. So
Speaker 2: Kyrie obviously demands the trade. I was in Arizona could
Speaker 2: not really record as much as I wanted to, but
Speaker 2: he said everything into overdrive right. It was like, oh
Speaker 2: my god, Kyrie's doing it where there's no time left
Speaker 2: on the clock. They have to move him. Where will
Speaker 2: he go? Will it be the Lakers? It will not
Speaker 2: be the Lakers. No one wants Russell Westbrook at this moment.
Speaker 2: Seventy two hours later, he is in Dallas and people
Speaker 2: are like, okay, so that move happens. No way, Kevin
Speaker 2: Durant gets traded right like, no way. There's not enough time,
Speaker 2: there's too many suitors, it's too much complexity. And enter
Speaker 2: my guy, who I am calling big balls, matt Ish
Speaker 2: with one T. Matt with one T, newly minted owner
Speaker 2: of the Phoenix Suns, and he comes in and says,
Speaker 2: fuck it, we'll do this deal.
Speaker 1: So Kevin Durant, I don't.
Speaker 2: Know if you guys know, this had only one destination
Speaker 2: in mind, it was only Phoenix. It was Phoenix and
Speaker 2: only Phoenix the entire time. Comes to the front office
Speaker 2: and says, look, guys, I'm exhausted. I am happy to
Speaker 2: find a way to get excited about these new guys,
Speaker 2: and I'm willing to stick it out this year.
Speaker 1: But at the end of this year, can you guys
Speaker 1: just give me to Phoenix. Can you guys figure it out?
Speaker 2: Can you figure a way to make something happen, and
Speaker 2: so then they figure out maybe just maybe if we
Speaker 2: keep this on the D L, extra D and extra L,
Speaker 2: then maybe get this thing done by the deadline, right.
Speaker 2: And Matt Ishbia, I don't know if you know this
Speaker 2: friends with Josi. They've had each other's phone numbers. Matt
Speaker 2: Ishbia came to a bunch of nets games really just
Speaker 2: kind of see what it's like to own a team,
Speaker 2: and the deal that James Jones turned down because Michale
Speaker 2: Bridges was in that deal and Cam Johnson was in
Speaker 2: that deal, and a bunch of unprotected first we're in
Speaker 2: that deal.
Speaker 1: Finally just said you know what, man, what do you
Speaker 1: think Matt? And Matt was like, okay, what's the luxury tax?
Speaker 2: And they're like, they're gonna put us bad in the
Speaker 2: luxury tax. We're gonna get like forty million into luxury tax.
Speaker 2: And our man, Robert Sarver, the scumbag that he is,
Speaker 2: the cheap scumbag he is. I think he had only
Speaker 2: gone to the luxury tax for a combined seventeen million
Speaker 2: dollars through the entire course of his ownerships, So forty
Speaker 2: million for Kevin Durant in the luxury tax.
Speaker 1: Everybody's like, oh my god, what's is should be you
Speaker 1: gonna say? And he was like, do it, do it
Speaker 1: right now, let's go absolutely.
Speaker 2: And then they were like, also, I know that we
Speaker 2: said we want to Cam Johnson and we want to
Speaker 2: McHale and we want to four first round unprotect. But like,
Speaker 2: and we know that we said that was a deal.
Speaker 2: We also kind of want Jay Crowder too.
Speaker 1: I'm like, that's enough, We're not doing the deal. See
Speaker 1: you later.
Speaker 2: And then Mattieshbia goes to a meeting and he's sitting
Speaker 2: there and he's thinking about trading for John Collins, right,
Speaker 2: and that was.
Speaker 1: The other deal that they had on the plate. Can
Speaker 1: we get John Collins?
Speaker 2: John Collins a nice player, he's been on the trade
Speaker 2: bark for four or five years now, and he's like, man,
Speaker 2: Matti Shbien knows what it's like to see the property
Speaker 2: because he's a mortgage guy, see your dream home, and
Speaker 2: like back at the price.
Speaker 1: You go to the next house and you're like, just.
Speaker 2: Don't like the bathroom closet kind of tiny? This s
Speaker 2: guy John Collins. He happens to not be anywhere close
Speaker 2: to Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant would move the needle, and
Speaker 2: so he calls up his fam calls up James Jones.
Speaker 2: He says, you know what, I don't care that it's
Speaker 2: war in the morning, East Coast Standard time.
Speaker 1: Let's do the deal.
Speaker 2: So they hit up Joe Sigh, they hit him Sean Marks,
Speaker 2: and they're already driving away from the arena because they
Speaker 2: think the deal dead. And then they go skeet skirt,
Speaker 2: it hit a little U turn. They're like, let's do
Speaker 2: this thing. And at the crack of dawn one.
Speaker 1: Thirty am Eastern Standard time, Kevin Durant to the Suns.
Speaker 1: Done deal. Holy shit.
Speaker 2: So why though, the question is why why does Kevin
Speaker 2: Durant only want to go to the Suns? Why was
Speaker 2: that the only place he wanted to go? I've answers
Speaker 2: first and foremost, Kevin Durant loves some Devin Booker loves him.
Speaker 2: Apparently that relationship was a key piece of that move,
Speaker 2: all the way back to when he first got into
Speaker 2: the league. He told Ben Simmons in twenty seventeen, this
Speaker 2: we called Devin Booker. We wanted Devin Booker in OKC.
Speaker 1: What I wanted him.
Speaker 2: I love book He loves the game. He's a dog.
Speaker 2: He'll rough you up, he'll get into you. You better
Speaker 2: watch up for that boy, because he's next and twenty.
Speaker 2: He's seventeen. He came out and said, Devin Booker is
Speaker 2: the next guy.
Speaker 1: He's the dog. I'm telling you it's him.
Speaker 2: They also then bonded during the Olympics when they played
Speaker 2: in Tokyo. Remember it was like locked down. You had
Speaker 2: no ability to see Tokyo. You had no ability to
Speaker 2: do anything but to go to the events that you
Speaker 2: were regulated to do. So him and Devin Booker were
Speaker 2: like peas and carrots, like white on rice. Got very
Speaker 2: very close, started saying to each other, what would it
Speaker 2: be like to play with each other in the NBA.
Speaker 1: Number two, He loves Monny Williams. Money Williams to him
Speaker 1: is one of the best coaches in the NBA.
Speaker 2: Got to know him as an assistant for Okcee. Monny
Speaker 2: Williams was an assistant with Kevin Durant was playing for
Speaker 2: the Thunder also was an assistant coach for Team USA.
Speaker 2: Kevin Durant thinks he's a leader, thinks he's a good teacher,
Speaker 2: and he says, I'm excited that he's back into coaching
Speaker 2: and walking these sidelines again.
Speaker 1: I got to know the type of man he was.
Speaker 2: His coaching style is what it is because of the
Speaker 2: stuff that he's been through as a person and how
Speaker 2: he looks at life in general.
Speaker 1: So really good friends with the marquee.
Speaker 2: Starr, really close with the coach and has a relationship
Speaker 2: with him. And then what about him and Chris Paul.
Speaker 2: Chris Paul and KD played together in twenty twelve for
Speaker 2: Team USA as well. They bonded in that moment, and
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty, Kevin Durant defended Chris Paul as a
Speaker 2: Hall of Famer, saying that he was already a Hall
Speaker 2: of Famer even if he never won a championship. Of course,
Speaker 2: he does go at it with Chris Paul's older brother,
Speaker 2: because who doesn't.
Speaker 1: And so then.
Speaker 2: Kevin Durant becomes a son and we're thinking, oh boy,
Speaker 2: we are off to the races.
Speaker 1: What else is gonna happen.
Speaker 2: Where's Pascal gonna go, Where's Og gonna go, Where's Fred
Speaker 2: gonna go? And then the rest of the deadline, let's
Speaker 2: be honest, was fucking terrible.
Speaker 1: It was trash.
Speaker 2: It wasn't exactly what we were hoping for. We were
Speaker 2: two days short of the deadline and everybody was like, man,
Speaker 2: what's it gonna be? And then you get there and
Speaker 2: it's like very disappointing. What happened with og what happened
Speaker 2: with Pascal? What happened with Chris Middleton? Who was in
Speaker 2: the news that he might get moved? John Collins was
Speaker 2: in the news that he was I mean, when is
Speaker 2: he not? John Collins was in the news that he
Speaker 2: would get moved.
Speaker 1: So not a single star outside.
Speaker 2: Of Kevin Durant was after the Kevin Durant trade happened
Speaker 2: after he broke the internet while you slept.
Speaker 1: Nothing happened ever since.
Speaker 2: So let's talk about Because you've probably googled every trade
Speaker 2: under the sun, I'm not going to recap them all
Speaker 2: for you. Let's talk about the biggest winners at the deadline.
Speaker 2: I've got top three, number number three. Let's start from
Speaker 2: three to one. Number three the Los Angeles Lakers. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: I said it. The Lakers got something interesting brewing. I
Speaker 2: hate it for him. I hate it I do. This
Speaker 2: team's now better than they have been in a long time.
Speaker 2: They are deep, they have so much more shooters than
Speaker 2: they had before in a long time. They went from
Speaker 2: being one of the oldest teams in the NBA. I
Speaker 2: think everybody was about to get ready for their AARP
Speaker 2: card and now there's not a player.
Speaker 1: Other than Lebron older than twenty nine on this squad.
Speaker 2: So they got very young D'Angelo Russell, who we know
Speaker 2: has already played for the Lakers. He is a true
Speaker 2: point guard who can shoot. He can shoot from deep
Speaker 2: very easily. He's very much an upgrade over Russell Westbrook
Speaker 2: in that fashion. Jared Vanderbilt really good young player, he
Speaker 2: can defend. Get Maliite Beasley who can fill it up
Speaker 2: and moboneba, so they get him too. And not to mention,
Speaker 2: they already had ruy Ha chimur and who they traded
Speaker 2: for like many weeks before the deadline.
Speaker 1: Very very interesting. Number three Los Angeles.
Speaker 2: Lakers, Number two, number two winner at the deadline, the
Speaker 2: Los Angeles Clippers.
Speaker 1: This is like the sneaky team flying under the radar.
Speaker 2: Nobody's talking about them, nobody's talking about how good their
Speaker 2: trade deadline was. You get bones Hyland, who is not
Speaker 2: only an elite scorer, but he can play make as well.
Speaker 2: He even came out and said, listen, guys, I can
Speaker 2: play the true point guard.
Speaker 1: You didn't need Fred van Fleet. You got me.
Speaker 2: Now, step aside, homies, step aside, Reggie Jackson, I got this.
Speaker 2: Kawhi can bring the ball up, Paul George can bring
Speaker 2: the ball up, and I can bring the ball up.
Speaker 1: So you do that. You got that very.
Speaker 2: Interesting, and you didn't really have to pay much for him.
Speaker 2: You didn't actually have to pay anything for him. You
Speaker 2: also get Mason Plumley, a very elite passing big. He's
Speaker 2: not an elite big, but he's elite at passing, if
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: And you get Eric Gordon for nothing.
Speaker 2: You actually got three second round picks for him, so
Speaker 2: you can take up his contract. He can shoot threes,
Speaker 2: he can defend a little bit, and by golly, he's
Speaker 2: already been a Clipper before, so you know it's probably
Speaker 2: gonna be fine. The Clippers got so much better as
Speaker 2: a result of this trade deadline season. And number one,
Speaker 2: you know what time it is best biggest winner at
Speaker 2: the deadline is the Phoenix Suns.
Speaker 1: What they got fucking Kevin Durant. That's it. You don't
Speaker 1: even I don't even need to say anything else.
Speaker 2: You become the instant title favorites. The starting five is ridiculous.
Speaker 2: Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker. My god, like just
Speaker 2: those three eighten you didn't even have to give up
Speaker 2: eighton that's four.
Speaker 1: You saw eight guys.
Speaker 2: In and out and things get really interesting. Congrats Phoenix,
Speaker 2: you won the lottery franchise altering trade.
Speaker 1: So let's talk more now about some of my favorite
Speaker 1: underrated moves.
Speaker 2: Top five underrated moves at the deadline, maybe more than five,
Speaker 2: but these are my favorites. Luke Canard, Yeah, Luke Canard,
Speaker 2: who I think is overpaid, but him to the Memphis
Speaker 2: Grizzlies in a three way trade is really really interesting.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be a great three point shooter.
Speaker 2: We know he can fill it up, we know he
Speaker 2: can space the floor, and he gives them a little
Speaker 2: bit of depth that they didn't have before. And by golly,
Speaker 2: if I could see anybody else besides Dylan Brooks and
Speaker 2: John Morant shoot threes. I know they have Desmond Baine,
Speaker 2: I know they have Jared Jackson, but let's be honest,
Speaker 2: perimeter shooting is that they're forte and now they got
Speaker 2: a guy who can really shoot.
Speaker 1: Jay Crowder Number two. Jay Crowder underrated move as well.
Speaker 2: He gives a little dog to the Milwaukee Bucks that
Speaker 2: they haven't had since PJ.
Speaker 1: Tucker.
Speaker 2: They missed that. He went to South Beach and all
Speaker 2: of a sudden, the toughness level decreased.
Speaker 1: Number three. Mike Muscala to the Celtics.
Speaker 2: Yes, I said it, Mike Muscala, big man, stretches the floor,
Speaker 2: helps this team with his length.
Speaker 1: He can shoot. They're calling him a sniper.
Speaker 2: I think he's gonna end up becoming a very key
Speaker 2: piece in the championship run that they're trying to make.
Speaker 2: There's gonna be a time where he has five threes,
Speaker 2: or he ends up having a huge scoring game or
Speaker 2: block somebody, just a key piece of the game that
Speaker 2: ended up altering the outcome so that they get a win.
Speaker 1: Mike Conley to the Wolves, Number two.
Speaker 2: This is very interesting, probably the biggest trade next to
Speaker 2: Katie and Kyrie.
Speaker 1: In the three way between the Wolves, Lakers, and Jazz.
Speaker 1: So you now.
Speaker 2: Finally get a playmaking point guard who isn't di Lo.
Speaker 2: Dilo is not a playmaking point guard. We know that
Speaker 2: d Lo is a Chucker d lo is a gunner.
Speaker 2: Mike Conley likes to set you up, likes to get
Speaker 2: you the spacing rank on the floor, likes to put
Speaker 2: Aunt Edwards where he wants to go. Mike Conley to
Speaker 2: the Wolves is going to propel them from a team
Speaker 2: that might not make the plan at all to a
Speaker 2: team that might be dangerous to get out of the
Speaker 2: first round, which I think is very, very interesting. And
Speaker 2: Number one, because you know how much I love my Dubs.
Speaker 2: Number one most underrated signing in this trade deadline is
Speaker 2: GP two to the Warriors. GP two with Draymond Green
Speaker 2: elite defensive combo opens up Draymond to play the five.
Speaker 2: Plays really good defense at the point of attack, which
Speaker 2: is something that Steph Curry has not been great at.
Speaker 2: He's gotten a lot better at. Klay Thompson obviously has
Speaker 2: lost a step defensively. So you need GP two if
Speaker 2: that man can get healthy by the playoffs. If the
Speaker 2: Warriors even get into the playoffs, but I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: say that, then that's gonna be something critical to their success.
Speaker 2: They wanted to keep them, they weren't able to keep them,
Speaker 2: and now they ship out James Wiseman and they get
Speaker 2: their guy GP two back. Let's also look at some
Speaker 2: teams that failed at the trade deadline. Biggest failures at
Speaker 2: the trade deadline Number one biggest failure to me, most
Speaker 2: puzzling is the Toronto Raptors. How do you go into
Speaker 2: the trade deadline and say you're gonna move everybody and
Speaker 2: move nobody?
Speaker 1: How are you gonna go.
Speaker 2: Into the trade deadline and say you're gonna be sellers
Speaker 2: and then actually be buyers?
Speaker 1: How is that happening? You were you were in the
Speaker 1: market to sell everybody.
Speaker 2: It was like, okay, we're gonna move Fred van Fleet,
Speaker 2: Gary Trade Trent Juniors on the trade block, O Gananobi,
Speaker 2: he's available for sale. Pascal Siakam, he's available for sale.
Speaker 2: It was only Scottie Barnes who was ungettable.
Speaker 1: And what did you do? You picked up Yakapurol, who
Speaker 1: you already had once before. What's going on? Guys?
Speaker 2: What's going on there? Did you just not get the
Speaker 2: price that you wanted for him? There's guys that are
Speaker 2: now on and expiring, like fredman Fleet. What are you
Speaker 2: gonna do with him? You're just gonna lose him for nothing.
Speaker 2: I don't understand what they're doing. Number two on this
Speaker 2: list most disappointing teams at the trade deadline The Bulls.
Speaker 1: What you're doing, baby, What you're doing?
Speaker 2: Another team? Everybody thought you were gonna do something. Are
Speaker 2: you gonna move Crusoe? Are you gonna move to Rosen?
Speaker 2: Are you gonna move Levin? Are you gonna move Voch? No?
Speaker 1: No, we're not doing anything.
Speaker 2: No we're not We're not getting anybody. We're not getting anybody.
Speaker 2: We're not selling anybody. Yeah, we know you want Alice Cruz,
Speaker 2: so yeah, maybe we wanted somebody in return. But you
Speaker 2: know what, we're gonna do absolutely fucking nothing. We're just
Speaker 2: gonna be frustrating as all get out.
Speaker 1: And number three our Kings. You know it stinks. I
Speaker 1: wanted this team to get Mason Plumley. I did.
Speaker 2: I thought that was a done deal. I thought that
Speaker 2: was something that we had.
Speaker 1: Basically been talking about all season. They need a backup big,
Speaker 1: They need a backup big.
Speaker 2: The non sabone minutes are brutal, but surely Rashaun Holmes
Speaker 2: in a second rounder would have gotten.
Speaker 1: The deal done.
Speaker 2: You would think when the Clippers got Mason Plumbley for
Speaker 2: Reggie Jackson in a second round pick. But maybe there's
Speaker 2: some sort of relationship there between our guy Jerry West
Speaker 2: and Mitch Kupchek, who has worked for Jerry West in
Speaker 2: the past, and so that deal gets done because of
Speaker 2: the relationship alone. I think that's the only reason that happens.
Speaker 2: So the trade deadline has come and gone. I don't
Speaker 2: really know what to make of it.
Speaker 1: Honestly, I don't know who's gonna be good. I don't
Speaker 1: know who's gonna be bad.
Speaker 2: But I do know we're gonna be talking about these
Speaker 2: seismic changes for the rest of the season and beyond.
Speaker 2: The aftermath is there's probably not gonna be many roster
Speaker 2: changes going forward, right outside of these little jankety, little
Speaker 2: raggedy buyouts, like because John Wall gonna get bought out,
Speaker 2: who knows?
Speaker 1: Russell West We're gonna get bought out, who knows. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna deal with that.
Speaker 2: Like I'm not gonna be staking my episodes on where
Speaker 2: Will Barton ends up. I'm not gonna be staking my
Speaker 2: episodes on where t Ross no shaded t Ross or
Speaker 2: Will Barton where they go, which I do think t
Speaker 2: Ross goes to the Dallas Mavericks, and I do think
Speaker 2: Will Barton ends up probably back in Portland because they
Speaker 2: like him. But that's something for another day. So I
Speaker 2: want to talk about really quickly the deepest teams who
Speaker 2: are now the deepest teams in the NBA as a
Speaker 2: result of this trade deadline.
Speaker 1: I have five.
Speaker 2: I thought I was gonna do three, and what I
Speaker 2: ended up at was five because teams got really, really deep.
Speaker 2: Not all of them are contenders now, so don't quote
Speaker 2: me on that, but these are the top five deepest
Speaker 2: teams right now in the league.
Speaker 1: We'll start at five.
Speaker 2: We'll go to one number five, top deepest team now
Speaker 2: in the league after the deadline. Philadelphia seventy six ers,
Speaker 2: ooh you said what, yes, Harden, Maxi, de Anthony Melton,
Speaker 2: Cork Moss, who by the way, demanded the trade, did
Speaker 2: not get traded, Tobias Harris, Jalen McDaniels who they got
Speaker 2: at the deadline, PJ Tucker, George Nang, Joel Embiid, Montrez Harrell,
Speaker 2: and now Dwayne Debman. Dwayne Dedman is now their backup,
Speaker 2: backup center because they have obviously.
Speaker 1: Montrez Harrel as well.
Speaker 2: So they have eleven players that you can legitimately see
Speaker 2: playing on a night tonight basis Number four, the LA Clippers.
Speaker 1: They're running eleven deep as well.
Speaker 2: Terrence Man, He's gonna run the point Bones Island backup point,
Speaker 2: Norm Powell, Paul George, Eric Gordon Kawhi, Leonard Marcus, Morris Batoom.
Speaker 2: These are real deal players. Roco Zubac the good players.
Speaker 2: These are really good players. Number three, deepest team in
Speaker 2: the league right now. This is this is gonna be fascinating.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you're gonna I don't know if you're.
Speaker 1: Gonna like agree or if it's gonna be surprising.
Speaker 2: But this team has thirteen players that they can roll out,
Speaker 2: throw the ball out with any one of those seven
Speaker 2: and you could get games won.
Speaker 1: The Brooklyn Freaking Nets. Brooklyn Nets subtracted.
Speaker 2: KD and Kyrie and now they are the third best
Speaker 2: deep team in the league.
Speaker 1: Check Out this roster.
Speaker 2: You got Ben Simmons when he plays, Spencer Dimwittie, Patty Mills,
Speaker 2: Edmund Sumner, Seth Curry, Michale Bridges, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson,
Speaker 2: Joe Harris, Royce, O'Neil Utah Watt Nabe, Dorian Finney, Smith
Speaker 2: and Nick Claxton shut the fuck up?
Speaker 1: What thirteen deep? Come on now?
Speaker 2: Number two deepest raw on this league after the trade deadline,
Speaker 2: the LA Lakers.
Speaker 1: Now, yeah, they are really deep. They is shocking. I
Speaker 1: looked at their new roster.
Speaker 2: I discovered that Lebron, like I said, is the only
Speaker 2: player over thirty. But you've got DeAngelo Russell, Dennis Shrewder,
Speaker 2: Austin Reeves, Malik Beasley, Lonnie Walker, Ruey, Hachi Mura, Jared Vanderbilt, Lebron,
Speaker 2: a d and Mobamba.
Speaker 1: I know that's less than thirteen.
Speaker 2: I just think the caliber with Ad Lebron and a
Speaker 2: bunch of depth is even more deep than deep. You
Speaker 2: know what, I'm saying, number one deepest team in the
Speaker 2: league now because they didn't trade guys that we thought
Speaker 2: that they might, and they added some. This is the
Speaker 2: Boston Celtics, number one deep team in the league right now.
Speaker 2: Eleven players are gonna get minutes. You got Marcus Smart,
Speaker 2: Malcolm Brogden, Derreck White and Pritchard all at the guard spot,
Speaker 2: Tatum Brown, Sam Hauser, Horford, Grant Williams at forward, and
Speaker 2: now you got Mike Muskala joining time Lord and Blake
Speaker 2: Griffin at center. That is eleven dudes that could significantly
Speaker 2: get minutes.
Speaker 1: Boy oh boy, is this fun.
Speaker 2: So with that, obviously you can't always get a chit
Speaker 2: from that, but it doesn't hurt. You're gonna be able
Speaker 2: to survive injuries. You're gonna be better as a result.
Speaker 2: And I think at least four of these teams could
Speaker 2: make some real noise in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Moving on with the trade deadline.
Speaker 2: Now, in the past we got to talk about the
Speaker 2: buyout market. Such a very weird trade den like. Like
Speaker 2: I said, but it makes buyouts even more important for
Speaker 2: teams that did not alter their roster enough. Moving forward,
Speaker 2: there's already been a couple of buyouts as well right
Speaker 2: now and signings. You got Reggie Jackson who went from
Speaker 2: the Clippers to the Hornets. He gets bought out and
Speaker 2: now he signs with the Nuggets, which I think is
Speaker 2: hilarious because the Clippers got Bones Highland and the Nuggets
Speaker 2: got Reggie Jackson. I think the Nuggets are gonna be
Speaker 2: less impressed with Reggie Jackson than they were Bones Highland.
Speaker 2: If you I thought it was tough to navigate Jamal
Speaker 2: Murray and Bones, let me introduce you to mister October.
Speaker 1: Reggie Jackson.
Speaker 2: Let me introduce you to the man who has a
Speaker 2: heat check twenty four to seven, seven days a week.
Speaker 1: Love Reggie, but I don't know.
Speaker 2: If you're gonna get anything more out of him than
Speaker 2: you were bones Highland. Maybe cheaper, maybe more equipped to
Speaker 2: fit in and slot in.
Speaker 1: But boy, oh boy, I do I not know if
Speaker 1: I like that move.
Speaker 2: Terrence Ross was weighed by the Magic alongside Beverly.
Speaker 1: Terrence Ross has signed with the Suns. Is that true? Wow,
Speaker 1: that's incredible. I didn't even know that.
Speaker 2: Here is a list, though, of the most important buyout targets.
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook.
Speaker 2: He is now rumored to go to Chicago or the
Speaker 2: Clippers after he's bought out by the Jazz. I think
Speaker 2: he should go to Chicago. Let him languish there, let
Speaker 2: him ball out, sell Jerseys. Nobody wants to see him
Speaker 2: in La Nobody. It's just I know Paul George is
Speaker 2: trying to make it happen. I don't think this front
Speaker 2: office does want it to happen. Stop Paul George.
Speaker 1: It's okay. Just let him linguish alone.
Speaker 2: John Wall He's gonna be bought out most likely, and
Speaker 2: like severally, is he the only player ever in history
Speaker 2: to be bought out by the same team twice. No,
Speaker 2: like in two years, got bought out by the Rockets,
Speaker 2: went to the Clippers, signed a new deal and got
Speaker 2: sent to the Rockets and is about to get bought
Speaker 2: out again. Crazy Patrick Beverley sent to the Magic they
Speaker 2: waived him. He's gonna sign with another team. Not surprisingly,
Speaker 2: the Clippers are back on that radar as well, which
Speaker 2: would make this reunion tour even more sweet. Like all
Speaker 2: these players just going back to their old teams. I
Speaker 2: don't understand it. That's why I think Will Barton's going
Speaker 2: back to Portland, because why the fuck not?
Speaker 1: Why not? Gary Payton goes back, Yaka Perle goes back,
Speaker 1: Eric Gordon goes back. I mean, this is like so insane.
Speaker 2: Dario Sarz looks like he's gonna get bought out as well.
Speaker 1: He was playing really well. I think that was very
Speaker 1: surprising that he got dumped to the Thunder.
Speaker 2: I'm not sure if the Okac Thunder are going to
Speaker 2: buy him out. It is un but whoever ends up,
Speaker 2: you know, if he's out on the market, there's gonna
Speaker 2: be a dozen teams probably trying to go get him.
Speaker 1: Like I said, Will the thrill.
Speaker 2: Some people think he's like one of the most talented
Speaker 2: players on the potential buy out market. This man doesn't
Speaker 2: play any defense. He doesn't like I love Will. He
Speaker 2: is a bucket. I'm sure he'll be some great scorer
Speaker 2: from some team, but I'm telling you the MAVs don't
Speaker 2: want him.
Speaker 1: Maybe the Sun's due. It's gonna be very interesting.
Speaker 2: Sergea Baka got bought out by the Sun by the box,
Speaker 2: excuse me, and the Sixers are now said to be
Speaker 2: kicking the tires on him.
Speaker 1: I thought he got picked up, though maybe not. I'm
Speaker 1: not an expert. I'm just just a commenter.
Speaker 2: There are some other players rumored to be bought out
Speaker 2: or way before the March first deadline, like Derek Rose,
Speaker 2: which would be fascinating, Neurlan's Noel Detroit, Justin Holiday, and
Speaker 2: maybe possibly even Kevin Love.
Speaker 1: Kevin Love on the buyout market.
Speaker 2: God, we've been talking about that for two years and
Speaker 2: now all of there's teams getting caught holding the bag
Speaker 2: of the deadline buyouts this year probably more important than ever.
Speaker 1: There are teams desperate to upgrade out West. I mean,
Speaker 1: despite the seismic changes that we have on the.
Speaker 2: Rosters in the East, where thirteen teams are still in contention,
Speaker 2: so it's gonna be fascinating to see what goes down.
Speaker 1: Moving on. So we got to talk about my Portland
Speaker 1: Trail Blazers.
Speaker 2: Hey baby, you're in trouble. Hey, what'd you do? Something's up?
Speaker 2: So they get caught in this four team trade that
Speaker 2: got certified by the league yesterday, So technically the trade
Speaker 2: deadline only ended Monday because the Warriors decided that even
Speaker 2: though there was some sort of skull luggery some I
Speaker 2: don't know what else to call it except for a
Speaker 2: concealed I don't want to call it out right lying,
Speaker 2: but the Warriors very mad that Gary Payton has damaged
Speaker 2: and that he might be out a few weeks, maybe months,
Speaker 2: and Portland's been playing him significant minutes right before the deadline.
Speaker 2: So instead of blowing up the entire deal and ruining
Speaker 2: the day for fifteen percent of the league, Warriors decided
Speaker 2: to keep Gary Payton the second So the fourteen.
Speaker 1: Deal is as follows.
Speaker 2: Blazers get Kevin Knocks from Detroit and five second round picks.
Speaker 2: It's a lot five second round picks from Golden State.
Speaker 2: Warriors get GP two and two second round picks from
Speaker 2: Atlanta Pistons get James Wiseman from the Warriors. Hawks get
Speaker 2: Sidik Bay from the Pistons via Golden State Warriors.
Speaker 1: Very complicated trade, but what.
Speaker 2: Was lost on all of this is that the entire
Speaker 2: deal centered and hinged around Gary Payton passing his physical
Speaker 2: Very Carlos Coorea vibes he did not pass that physical
Speaker 2: So then things got crazy, the universe, undefeated, chaos anger,
Speaker 2: internal investigations launched, all kinds of stuff happening because the way.
Speaker 1: That the Blazers did or did not disclose the.
Speaker 2: Gary Payton injury to the Warriors, who by the way,
Speaker 2: had him last year, and he had that core injury
Speaker 2: with them last year, so the fact that they thought
Speaker 2: he was.
Speaker 1: All good kind of strange.
Speaker 2: Anyway, Peyton's been dealing with that core injury all year,
Speaker 2: and even last year. He had surgery in September of
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one. Rumors are that he's been unhappy in Portland.
Speaker 2: I don't understand why. I can't really get to the
Speaker 2: bottom of it. He's been injured pretty much most of
Speaker 2: the year. He's not gonna get a ton of minutes
Speaker 2: and Portland's not winning games, so.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's why.
Speaker 2: Maybe it's the lack of melanin in the city of Portland,
Speaker 2: not sure, or the lack of sunshine in the city
Speaker 2: of Portland. But the Warriors' medical staff inspected Peyton and
Speaker 2: they were very mad that Portland they felt like they
Speaker 2: duped him. So then because the Blazers didn't disclose to
Speaker 2: the Warriors that he had been given Tordal, which is
Speaker 2: like an NSID. It's not like a people don't understand.
Speaker 2: Tortal is not a steroid. It is an anti inflammatory.
Speaker 2: But there's all this like rigamal role as my grandma
Speaker 2: would say. Because Aaron Goodwin, Gary Peyton's agent came out
Speaker 2: and said, no, Gary Payton's not been taking tourtole, no
Speaker 2: tourt all shots for Gary Payton. Turns out Gary Payton, He's.
Speaker 1: Right, did not take any tort all shots. He took
Speaker 1: his tortoll through the mouth, so little like sus in
Speaker 1: terms of him avoiding the question, making it seem like
Speaker 1: he never took toward all when he knew that his
Speaker 1: client had, but won't keep it moving. Right.
Speaker 2: Turns out good Ones technically correct, but also that's shady, right,
Speaker 2: that's very shady. The trade was on the brink of
Speaker 2: blowing up. It would have sent it all these disgruntled
Speaker 2: players back home to their original location. Could you imagine
Speaker 2: James Wiseman, after getting shipped out, having to go back
Speaker 2: to the Santa Cruz Warriors get out of here. You
Speaker 2: think Sadik Bay wants to go back to Detroit. No,
Speaker 2: you think Gary Payton after blowing up the franchise saying,
Speaker 2: oh I'm happy he was how they were forcing to
Speaker 2: play hopped up on tour It Hall wants to go
Speaker 2: back to Portland.
Speaker 1: No shot, So the trade goes down.
Speaker 2: I have questions, specifically why Aaron Goodwin would lie to
Speaker 2: protect the Blazers. I put my detective hat on, I
Speaker 2: broke it down. One thing I have to say about Goodwin,
Speaker 2: He's got to be a team player. Because Aaron Goodwin,
Speaker 2: Aaron Goodnall also represents Dame Lillard. Dame Lillard Portland trailblazer
Speaker 2: Marquis Starr making sixty million dollars a year. So Aaron
Speaker 2: Goodwin protecting the Blazers and thus Dame helping Dame clear
Speaker 2: a runway or at least not additional like additional roadblocks
Speaker 2: up for dam to try to get some additional players
Speaker 2: on this whack ass team. That would be why he
Speaker 2: would do this. Do not say the Portland is making
Speaker 2: their players who are injured.
Speaker 1: A play on turtle.
Speaker 2: Do not say that you're hiding information that is critical
Speaker 2: to the health and wellness of said players. Players will
Speaker 2: not like that. Players are already struggled to go to Portland.
Speaker 2: Aaron Goodwin did what is in his one client's best
Speaker 2: interest and maybe not the others.
Speaker 1: I know though, something about that.
Speaker 2: All four teams involved in this trade have narratives surround them.
Speaker 2: This year, all the NBA misfits got together. They shifted
Speaker 2: around each other's problems like a game of hot Potato Pistons.
Speaker 2: They solve their Sadik Bay issue by shipping him out.
Speaker 2: They were not going to sign him to his rookie extension.
Speaker 2: He wanted to get paid. Blazers get Matis Steibel so
Speaker 2: they get younger, cheaper, longer. They don't have to deal
Speaker 2: with Gary Payton, who's been struggling with his core injury.
Speaker 2: They didn't know when he was gonna be fully healthy.
Speaker 2: Hawks get Sidik Bay for reasons that are unknown. I
Speaker 2: don't understand it.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure what they want with them. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if there's gonna be some future move happening in
Speaker 1: the in forthcoming months after in the off season.
Speaker 2: But the last thing that the Hawks need is another
Speaker 2: guy who just shoots three and doesn't play defense. Golden
Speaker 2: State ships out their number two overall pick, and that
Speaker 2: finally means that we can trustfully say James Wiseman was
Speaker 2: never gonna.
Speaker 1: Work in Golden State never.
Speaker 2: The big news though for the Doves is that means,
Speaker 2: like I said, the Wiseman experiment is over. We're gonna
Speaker 2: deal with that more in a later episode, but for now,
Speaker 2: Joe lakeubsending Wiseman packing means it is now win now
Speaker 2: mode for Golden State. Wiseman was set to cost the
Speaker 2: Warriors one hundred and thirty one million in salary and
Speaker 2: luxury techt the next two years. So the question is
Speaker 2: why does that matter? Well, the reason it matters is
Speaker 2: because the Warrior have never been shy of paying additional
Speaker 2: luxury tax dollars when they thought that was going to
Speaker 2: help them compete. Remember, they signed Kelly Ubre to a deal.
Speaker 2: Kelly Ubre, who is horrible, was costing the Golden State
Speaker 2: Warriors like sixty seven million dollars in luxury tax and
Speaker 2: salary combined.
Speaker 1: So now what does that mean for the Doves.
Speaker 2: That means the Doves are not trying to spend unnecessarily
Speaker 2: for players who are not going to help them. World
Speaker 2: champs are no longer going to operate like money is
Speaker 2: water dumping. Wiseman was a message that the gravy train
Speaker 2: is about to end this roster.
Speaker 1: May I actually believe this? My prediction is that the.
Speaker 2: Warriors retool, rebuild, completely reshuffle the roster next season. There
Speaker 2: are players who are marquee guys who are on the
Speaker 2: Warriors right now who will not be on the Warriors
Speaker 2: next year. Is that Draymond Probably? Is that Clay probably not?
Speaker 2: Is that Pool? Maybe it might be a fire sale
Speaker 2: to get whatever key pieces that they need in order
Speaker 2: to get a championship happening now. Is Steve kerrback next year?
Speaker 2: Is Bob Myers back next year? All of that something
Speaker 2: to monitor. And I have a question for those who
Speaker 2: are my fellow Dubs fans. If you had the decision
Speaker 2: to make and you could only keep either Andrew Wiggins
Speaker 2: or Jordan Poole, who to be Because I don't see
Speaker 2: both being in the long term future of the Golden
Speaker 2: State Warriors, and if it was me, I would choose
Speaker 2: Andrew Wiggins despite him being very much on the downturn
Speaker 2: this year after getting paid.
Speaker 1: The Warriors have a third of a season left.
Speaker 2: The earliest they're going to get back GP two is
Speaker 2: right before playoffs, and that is if he doesn't have
Speaker 2: another setback, which again, core injuries are really tough. Blazers
Speaker 2: I think are the only team in this four team
Speaker 2: trade that came out doing well.
Speaker 1: So there's another class suit happening.
Speaker 2: Concerning NFTs, and it's making its way to the NBA,
Speaker 2: and it's involving a bunch of celebrities in the NBA,
Speaker 2: including Babyface Assassin himself Steph Curry, and it's probably gonna
Speaker 2: mark the beginning of a whole other set of lawsuits
Speaker 2: headed towards anyone in the NBA who ever promoted NFTs
Speaker 2: and or Crypto I Ecrypto dot Com Arena aka NFTs
Speaker 2: being your Jersey patch.
Speaker 1: Aka NFT bobblenut Head Night.
Speaker 2: If you are involved, you are maybe in the Scopelands
Speaker 2: lawsuit Real and Titcher versus YUGA Labs. This is The
Speaker 2: New News names a bunch of celebrities in this lawsuit,
Speaker 2: from Jimmy Fallon to Kevin Hart, to Serena Williams to
Speaker 2: our very own Steph Curry, and for the first time,
Speaker 2: peels back the curtain on how all these rich and
Speaker 2: famous folks got pulled into what is now, very obviously
Speaker 2: in hindsight, a scam, very obviously in hindsight borderline Ponzi scheme,
Speaker 2: very borderline made off vibes. So I'm not someone who
Speaker 2: ever gotten too NFTs because I don't buy things I
Speaker 2: don't understand, and I did not understand them. I still
Speaker 2: don't understand them, but this is what I know about them,
Speaker 2: And NFT here we go.
Speaker 1: You say, well, you're such a millennial.
Speaker 2: Yes, if you're a millennial too and you're listening to
Speaker 2: this podcast, we're gonna break it down for y'all because
Speaker 2: the gen zs they probably already have this.
Speaker 1: In their head.
Speaker 2: NFT or a non fungible token that's where you lost me.
Speaker 2: Can't touch it, can't grab it. Non fungible token a
Speaker 2: type of a new type of digital asset secured by
Speaker 2: cryptography that should tell you everything you know. Shady right,
Speaker 2: NFTs can represent anything anything. They can represent anything from
Speaker 2: gold to silver to digital items like music or photos
Speaker 2: or art, even tweets. You could buy an NFT of
Speaker 2: someone's tweet and you own that NFT tweet.
Speaker 1: What fuck does it? Who cares? We move on?
Speaker 2: Entered the board Ape yacht Club, which was a real thing.
Speaker 2: That's not Those are not a collection of words that
Speaker 2: just made up. They have imploded spectacularly from a four
Speaker 2: billion dollar valuation to now as we sit here today,
Speaker 2: worthless valuation, worthless. Justin Bieber said he purchased the board
Speaker 2: Ape NFT in January twenty twenty one for one point
Speaker 2: three to one million, and it is currently worth sixty
Speaker 2: nine thousand nice, which is a decreased ninety five percent value.
Speaker 1: Good thing. He's Justin Bieber and he can just make
Speaker 1: more music. That is rough.
Speaker 2: The lawsuit states the two things though, that are worth mentioning,
Speaker 2: and neither are good for Steph Curry. Number one, it
Speaker 2: says celebrities like Steph use their status to fool the public.
Speaker 2: That's not good to fool the public into investing into
Speaker 2: board Apes and other NFTs. The fact that there was a
Speaker 2: scam probably doesn't help at all. Secondly, and probably more damaging,
Speaker 2: a forensic analysis of the blockchain, also words that I
Speaker 2: did not make up, shows that these celebrities did not
Speaker 2: actually use any of their own money, but were transferred
Speaker 2: crypto to make the expensive buys that they were promoting.
Speaker 1: So they got the stuff for free and they promoted it,
Speaker 1: they were actually investing in it.
Speaker 2: According to the investigative report on CNN, hours before Justin
Speaker 2: Bieber bought an ape for the bought an ape for
Speaker 2: the equivalent of one point three million. Bieber received ethereum worth,
Speaker 2: another type of crypto worth around two point five million
Speaker 2: in his crypto wallet.
Speaker 1: The blockchain shows, is anyone else confused? Shit's crazy? What
Speaker 1: does this even mean?
Speaker 2: Curry and other celebrities named in this lawsuit didn't even
Speaker 2: spend their own money on the NFTs, despite saying they
Speaker 2: were doing so, and they were hyping up these types
Speaker 2: of NFTs like the board apes on social media. I
Speaker 2: would say, if I had to guess if I'm Steph Curry,
Speaker 2: I'd be worried.
Speaker 1: I'd be a little concerned. We are going to look
Speaker 1: back on this whole NFT thing and crypto thing as
Speaker 1: one of them most bizarre potential financial scams in history.
Speaker 2: All this reminds me of thatout saying. My grammy used
Speaker 2: to say, a money uh no, a fool and his
Speaker 2: money are soon parted, especially when that fool is being
Speaker 2: hyped up by a guy like Bordell. Stephen Curry, All right,
Speaker 2: let's move on. We got our latest update on on Zion. Yeah, folks,
Speaker 2: it is not good.
Speaker 1: It is not good.
Speaker 2: So Zion was playing three on three recently and re
Speaker 2: injured his hamstring, his hammy, and now his return has
Speaker 2: been further extended. Today it was announced he would miss
Speaker 2: quote several weeks after the All Star Game. He heard
Speaker 2: his hamstring against the Sicker Sixers on January two, and
Speaker 2: he's been out ever since. The Pelicans, as we know,
Speaker 2: have struggled without him. They've fallen in from second in
Speaker 2: the West to seventh in the West. They are only
Speaker 2: one game over five hundred.
Speaker 1: Right now. They are six and fourteen cent Zion went down.
Speaker 2: They have including a ten game losing streak, which is
Speaker 2: very brutal. Zion was very good in the games that
Speaker 2: he played, twenty nine games made the All Star team.
Speaker 2: Even in those twenty he must have been so good
Speaker 2: that even though he played less than half the season.
Speaker 2: He still made the All Star team. So that tells
Speaker 2: you how elite he was playing. I don't know how
Speaker 2: this gets better for New Orleans at the moment. Dude
Speaker 2: is too big for his body, too powerful.
Speaker 1: Too fat.
Speaker 2: I said it, I promised I would, but he is,
Speaker 2: and the Pelicans to me are in trouble.
Speaker 1: We've got CJ.
Speaker 2: McCollum who's got a thumb injury that's probably going to
Speaker 2: require at some point surgery. You've got Brandon Ingram coming
Speaker 2: off of some sort of turf toe. He's been awesome.
Speaker 2: How long will that last? You've got guys like Herb
Speaker 2: Jones go down with injuries. B I, like I said,
Speaker 2: miss four weeks before coming back, and now Zion is
Speaker 2: not back for at least four to six weeks more.
Speaker 1: That puts us at March early April, right before the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Then you got a recondition.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you guys this, Do you think it's
Speaker 2: gonna take Zion a week to recondition or do you
Speaker 2: think it's gonna take him a long time to get
Speaker 2: in condition to play basketball when he hasn't been playing
Speaker 2: anti basketball and he's probably just been.
Speaker 1: Who knows who knows who he's been doing. I can't speculate.
Speaker 2: Very promising season might be in danger of getting away.
Speaker 1: That's all the time that we have for the heat Check.
Speaker 1: Check back on Thursday. We're gonna give you more episodes.
Speaker 2: I think we have an interview tonight with Kevin Ray,
Speaker 2: so we'll put that on the feed. He is the
Speaker 2: play by play commenter for the radio for the Phoenix Suns,
Speaker 2: so we're gonna break down all of the Kevin Durant
Speaker 2: trade with him. Please follow the heat Check as the
Speaker 2: season heads towards All Star weekend in Utah, and crazily enough,
Speaker 2: they thought they were gonna have two All Stars, the
Speaker 2: Utah Jazz for the Utah All Star Game, and they
Speaker 2: do not download subscribe.
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Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.